SM Energy (NYSE:SM) Trading Down 6.4% - Should You Sell?

SM Energy Company (NYSE:SM - Get Free Report) shares traded down 6.4% on Monday . The company traded as low as $25.91 and last traded at $25.80. 1,315,911 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 34% from the average session volume of 1,990,183 shares. The stock had previously closed at $27.56.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms recently commented on SM. Mizuho reduced their target price on shares of SM Energy from $46.00 to $42.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, May 13th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target on shares of SM Energy from $33.00 to $29.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, June 16th. Williams Trading set a $41.00 price objective on SM Energy in a research note on Wednesday, March 5th. KeyCorp lowered their target price on SM Energy from $60.00 to $36.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 21st. Finally, Susquehanna dropped their target price on SM Energy from $39.00 to $24.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 22nd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating, five have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $42.08.

SM Energy Stock Up 3.0%

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.62, a quick ratio of 0.57 and a current ratio of 0.57. The stock's 50-day moving average price is $24.36 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $31.04. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.91 billion, a PE ratio of 3.56 and a beta of 2.19.

SM Energy (NYSE:SM - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 1st. The energy company reported $1.76 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.60 by $0.16. SM Energy had a net margin of 27.61% and a return on equity of 19.90%. The business had revenue of $844.54 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $814.62 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.13 earnings per share. The business's revenue was up 50.8% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts expect that SM Energy Company will post 8.1 EPS for the current fiscal year.

SM Energy Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, August 4th. Investors of record on Friday, July 18th will be given a dividend of $0.20 per share. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.15%. SM Energy's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 11.20%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in SM. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC raised its holdings in SM Energy by 64.5% in the fourth quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 4,730 shares of the energy company's stock worth $183,000 after buying an additional 1,854 shares during the last quarter. Range Financial Group LLC increased its position in shares of SM Energy by 16.9% during the first quarter. Range Financial Group LLC now owns 25,119 shares of the energy company's stock valued at $752,000 after acquiring an additional 3,624 shares in the last quarter. Intrust Bank NA purchased a new position in SM Energy in the 4th quarter worth approximately $396,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised its holdings in SM Energy by 2.1% in the 4th quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 1,234,890 shares of the energy company's stock worth $47,864,000 after acquiring an additional 25,857 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. lifted its position in SM Energy by 80.7% in the 1st quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 1,520 shares of the energy company's stock valued at $46,000 after acquiring an additional 679 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 94.56% of the company's stock.

About SM Energy

SM Energy Company, an independent energy company, engages in the acquisition, exploration, development, and production of oil, gas, and natural gas liquids in the state of Texas. It has working interests in oil and gas producing wells in the Midland Basin and South Texas. The company was formerly known as St.